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POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 13, 2010) – The Vassar College women's swimming and diving team snapped a two-decade long losing streak to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a rare occurrence, a 149-149 tie. Down 16 points with two events remaining, the Brewers won both events to end the meet in a stalemate Saturday afternoon at Kresge Pool.

The Brewers (1-0-1) will race Pace on the road on Friday, November 19 at 6:00 p.m. The Engineers (1-1-1) host Hartwick this Sunday, November 14 at 1:00 p.m.

Trailing 123-139, the Brewers scored 13 points to RPI's six points in the 200 yard IM by claiming first, third, and fifth place to cut the lead RPI lead to seven points (individual scoring 9-4-3-2-1-0). Vassar sophomore Shannon Sara won the event in 2:17.94 followed by freshman Hayley Lemoine in third place in 2:22.50 seconds, and classmate McKenzie Quinn in fifth place in 2:25.16 seconds.

Facing a seven point deficit at 136-145 going into the final event, the Brewers needed to take first and second place in the 400 yard freestyle relay to win the meet (relay scoring 11-4-2-0). Vassar's 'A' team of sophomore Sydnie Alquist, senior Meg McCarty, senior captain Samantha Jones, and Sara finished with a time of 3:49.03 seconds to claim first place. After swimming the winning 200 IM less than 10 minutes before, Sara anchored the relay team with an impressive 56.2 second split, 2.22 seconds faster than her RPI counterpart, to edge the second place RPI team by 1.73 seconds. Vassar's young 'B' relay team of sophomore Alexandra Damon, sophomore Alexandra Hughes, freshman Alison Burns, and freshman Robin Lam finished in third in 3:57.02 seconds to earn the critical two points to tie the meet at 149-149.

“We had confidence that our 'A's would give us the points we needed,” said head coach Lisl Prater-Lee, “but we were really counting on the B team to step up and they did just that.”

Remarkably, swimmers and fans were clueless as to the meet's overall score until the final announcement. “We had no idea what the score was but there was a building excitement for the final two events,” said Jones, who swam on the winning 400 yard relay team. “Even though it wasn't a win, it felt like one.”

“We were all surprised to hear it end in a tie but considering the history and our comeback, it was like a victory,” said Prater-Lee.

Diving played a key role for Vassar as three divers combined for 14 points in the 1m event. Junior Christie Musket won first with a score of 227.39 followed by Amelia Couture in third place and Samantha McClenahan in fourth.

Besides her heroics in the final two events, Sara won the 200 freestyle in 2:00.64 and finished second in the 200 breaststroke with a personal best of 2:34.51. She totaled 22 individual points in addition to her 11 point relay finish. “To see someone put together a personal best this early in the season is unique and it bodes well for the future if she's already competing at such a high level,” said Prater-Lee.

Jones matched Sara's 22 individual points as she finished first in the 100 backstroke in 103.72 seconds, first in the 50 freestyle in 25.91 seconds, and second in the 200 backstroke in 219.84 seconds. She contributed to the winning 400 freestyle relay team.

Alquist finished first in the 100 freestyle in 57.46 seconds, second in the 100 butterfly in 104.15, and third in the 50 freestyle in 27.03 seconds. She swam for the winning 400 freestyle relay team.

“We scored where we're strong but it was our depth that pulled us through as all 22 members stepped up and took points away from RPI,” said Prater-Lee.